Buccaneers reinstate Arron Sears

The Sports Xchange

11/18/2009

Bucs fans were in for a surprise on Monday when the team announced that guard Arron Sears has been officially reinstated. Read on to find out what GM Mark Dominik had to say about Sears' return, why Raheem Morris believes the team has struggled to stop the run and why the Bucs didn't do a better job of finding the right talent to play the new system.

G Arron Sears was reinstated to the team. The Bucs will get a two-week roster exemption for Sears, who was on the Did Not Report/Non Football Injury list.

Under the terms of his reinstatement, the team will have a two-week exemption in which Sears will not count towards the Buccaneers 53-man active roster. He is eligible to practice with the team and attend all team activities. Sears was placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list on July 31, 2009.

"We welcome Arron back to the team," said Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik. "Throughout this process we have remained in close contact with Arron and his agent, and this is a good opportunity for him to integrate himself back into our football team."

Failing to Stop the Run

The Buccaneers' inability to stop the run has been their biggest failure this year.

Tampa Bay has allowed 167.3 rushing yards per game (third worst in the league) and 4.9 yards per carry (tied for second worst).

After Sunday's game, in which the Dolphins rushed for 199 yards -- including a 45-yard run by Ronnie Brown that was the longest against the Bucs this season -- coach Raheem Morris made a startling admission that his team is not equipped to play Jim Bates' defense.

"We're just not made right now to knock people back," Morris said. "That's not how we're cut. We don't have big, intimidating linebackers or big, intimidating linemen. We have to hit you. We have to be perfect.

"We don't have the big people, the big personnel that you need to knock out runs, the physical person up front that absolutely dominates the block and gets the tackle for loss for a third-and-13. We'll get there or we'll find those guys. We'll get out there and get them. But we have to play with the guys that we have, and they have to continue to play the way they played (Sunday) as far as having five series with three-and-out, having two series with a four-and-out and having two turnovers. We have to get the big guys in there and let them play a little bit."

Morris was asked why the Bucs didn't do a better job of finding the right talent to play the new system.

"Ryan (Sims) has got to be evaluated just like all of us," Morris said. "You have to evaluate Dre Moore. We'll have a chance to evaluate all those guys: The Kyle Moores, the Michael Bennetts -- all the guys that we have. We'll have to make a decision at the end of the season. But right now, they have to get better. We have to go out there and get better with technique. We have to go out there and see somebody make a splash play."